Adventures in Hecticicity

Yes, I said hecticicity. You know, when hecticification has occurred, resulting in a state of hecticicity. The word describes the final two weeks of the semester perfectly. Between setting, administering, grading and recording exams and scores, it's been a busy couple of weeks. The last two days have been especially busy with time divided between mind numbing paperwork and dealing with disgruntled students. ("I know I've earned a 'B', but why can't you give me an 'A' anyway?" or, worse yet, "I've earned an 'A', why did I get a 'C+'?"). I hate having to grade on a curve. Students with lower scores think they're entitled to a higher grade, just because there's space left in the 'A' section, and students with higher scores are punished with a rotten grade, even though they've earned an 'A'. Grrrrr.

After all that (and a lousy night's sleep on Thursday - stupid fighting alley cats) I didn't make it out of bed at 4 o'clock this morning to watch South Korea lose their chance at a spot in the Round of 16 in the World Cup. I woke up around 5, but didn't get up to watch the match. Campus was too quiet, so I knew we were losing. The first game we played was at 10pm, and we watched the game on a big screen in the Amphitheater. The next two games were at 4am. I got up to watch the first one, and ended up drifting off during the 2nd half, only to be awakened by a deafening roar coming from all the dormitories as Korea scored a tying goal. I didn't hear any roaring last night, so I knew South Korea bowed out of this years tournament with no goals in their final game. Luckily, England is still in the running, so I'm not left teamless in the next round. I'm still hoping Canada will eventually make it to a World Cup...haven't decades of dedicated Soccer Mom's been able to produce a winning national team yet? The first batch of 'em should be all grown up by now! C'mon guys, don't get your moms up at oh-dark-thirty in the morning for years, only to leave your nation stranded 18 years later!!

Since it's the fist day of my holidays, I'm still lounging (faffing, as my South African friends would say "faff" what a fun word.) in my pajamas contemplating a magnificent breakfast. I should let you in on a little secret though...I usually spend so long contemplating, that I get too hungry to make a magnificent breafast and end up with a bowl of cereal or a fruit smoothie. Sad, but true. Darn, and it just happened during the typing of that last paragraph. I think it was the parenthetical inclusion of 'faffing' that did it. Now I'm too hungry to make crepes with blueberry coulis. Cornflakes it is.

...why on earth do you guys keep reading this stuff????

Adventures in Aclimatization...

I now feel as though I've officially passed two very important milestones in my Korean adventure.

1) I must now have the right amount of kimchi, fermented soybean paste and tofu in my system to be attractive to Korean mosquitoes. This is my first year noticing multiple bites.

2) It's 31 degrees outside, and I wore a cardigan to class because I want to save my summer clothes for when it gets hot.